The Slower-Closer Hedgehog
Replace 'further, faster' with 'slower, closer' as your scaling philosophy
The default growth mantra in business is 'further, faster'—scale aggressively, hire more, take investment. This framework challenges that by recognizing some leaders and organizations perform better with a 'slower, closer' approach: creating world-class work yourself and partnering with others who scale, rather than building a scaling machine that pulls you away from the work you love and the life that keeps you grounded.
- Further, faster is the default assumption—but it may not match your nature or values
- The closer you stay to your real life (grocery shopping, dishwasher, loving people), the better your work becomes
- You can shut down successful businesses that make you miserable—success is not only measured by revenue
- Create world-class work yourself and partner with people who scale, rather than building a scaling machine
- Audit your further-faster assumptionExamine whether your drive to scale is genuinely aligned with your values and strengths, or if it is just the default expectation of success culture.Pro tipIf you find yourself getting crazier as you scale, that is your signal
- Identify what keeps you groundedName the ordinary activities—grocery shopping, cooking, being present with family—that keep you sane and effective. Notice if scaling is eroding those.
- Redesign your hedgehogUsing Jim Collins's hedgehog concept, redefine your strategic focus. Brene's new split: 30% leading team and organization, 70% white-space creative time.Pro tipThe ratio will be different for everyone—the point is to protect creative and grounding time
- Partner instead of buildingInstead of building your own scaling infrastructure, partner with people and organizations whose superpower is scaling. Your superpower is creating the work.WarningBe willing to shut down businesses or initiatives that are financially successful but make you miserable
After years of self-funded scaling, Brown found herself with growing teams and new desks, hating the work. She shut down businesses that were doing well financially because they made her miserable. She restructured to 30% leadership and 70% creative white space, partnering with others who handle scale.
Brene Brown spent years pursuing the 'further, faster' mantra, self-funding learning platforms and scaling operations after turning down investors. She found herself hiring people and getting new desks and hating it. She realized she was a 'slower, closer' person—the further and faster she went, the crazier she got. She restructured using Jim Collins's hedgehog concept to focus on creating world-class content while partnering with others who handle scaling.